Download Description
"Good, bad, or indifferent, every customer has anexperience with your company and the productsor services you provide. But few businesses reallymanage that customer experience... so they losethe chance to transform customers into lifetimecustomers.
In this book, Lou Carbone shows exactly how toengineer world-class customer experiences, oneclue at a time.
Carbone draws on the latest neuroscientificresearch to show how customers transformphysical and emotional sensations into powerfulperceptions of your business... perceptions thatcrystallize into attitudes that dictate everythingfrom satisfaction to loyalty.
And he explains how to assess and audit existingcustomer experiences, design and implement newones... and ""steward"" them over time, to ensurethat they remain outstanding, no matter how yourcustomers change.
Experience as a value proposition
Building systems that reflect your customers'deepest needs and desires
The mouse vs. the orange roof
Why Disney succeeded and Howard Johnson's failed
The disciplines of experience management
Experience assessment, auditing, designing,implementation, and more
Experience stewardship for the long term
freshing your experiences to reflect changingneeds and desires
- Understand how your customers think and feel, and how they interact with your products and services
- Assess, audit, design, implement, and steward any customer experience
- Beyond Disney and Harley-Davidson: solutions for every industry, product, or service
Customer experience is your best opportunity for differentiation... often, your only opportunity.Clued In gives you the tools to craft an outstanding customer experience--no matter what yousell, or who you sell it to.
Lou Carbone reveals the sensory building blocks of experience you're already delivering tocustomers, whether you know it or not. He shows how to re-craft these ""clues"" into a consistent,powerful experience that leads directly to customer preference... a preference that can help youdifferentiate practically anything.
Carbone covers the entire process, hands-on: organizing your ""experience design"" team...evaluating the experience you're already delivering... designing manageable clues that connectwith customer desire... rolling out new experiences... and making customer experience bothsustainable and profitable.
Your company needs to move from creating great products and services tocreating great experiences."
Customer Reviews:
This is great!.......2007-03-08
Not really sure why I bought this book. The title certainly did nothing to reveal what a gem it would turn out to be. I mean..Clued In? It makes sense once you start reading the book but it is certainly somewhat obscure for a business title.
However, it you do manage to get past the cover, you'll find one of the best books on this topic that I"ve ever read. And I've read quite a few.
Author Lewis Carbone clearly knows his stuff and his passion for the topic comes out as you turn over the pages. The book is literally full of insightful case studies and reveals a depth of understanding and practical advice that makes the book truely memorable.
This is not a book to casually flick through, it demands your serious attention. I'll certainly be going back to it again and again. Buy it!
Great book, but leaves a few essentials out.......2006-11-04
Lewis Carbone knows his stuff, and it shows in his offering, Clued In. We are going through the process at our company and, although we see the potential and understand what Carbone means by the "customer experience," it still requires a psychologist on staff to help us understand how to go about "mining for clues." In a nutshell, great book, gets everyone on board in seeing the potential for increased bottom line. But mining for clues is an essential part of the process, and Mr. Carbone leaves the reader with a feeling that the process is somehow mystical.
Great guide book for experience management.......2006-05-09
Building on The Experience Economy, Carbone's book adds significant details and road maps to achieve experience management. Highly readable.
Highly Recommended!.......2005-08-17
Pull up a chair, sit down and take notes in this virtual boardroom. With insider details gathered from decision-makers at major corporations, author Lewis P. Carbone gives you a close-up look at the business of customer satisfaction. From Howard Johnson to Starbucks, the author provides you-are-there clues about the customer marketing strategies that have fueled high-profile successes and caused major failures. Reading this book is like eavesdropping on top executives. The author enhances corporate scenarios with helpful charts and timelines that apply to all businesses, from mom-and-pop enterprises to major conglomerates. The text is occasionally repetitive, but that drives home important points. We recommend this solid marketing tool to business owners and managers.
The Prohibitive Cost of Being Clueless.......2005-07-24
Warren Buffett once said that price is what is charged for a product or service but value is what others think it's worth. I thought about that comment as I began to read Carbone's book. If Buffett's right (and I think he is), the key to getting customers to come back "again and again" is to create for them a purchase experience whose importance includes but is by no means limited to their perception of price relative to value. What else? Carbone: "The tangible attributes of a product or service have far less influence on consumer preference than the unconscious sensory and emotional elements derived from the total experience." He goes on to point out that creating value around multi-dimensional, well-integrated, and consciously managed experiences involves connecting with "the unconscious emotional passions of your customers and in the process, you'll discover how to differentiate yourself from competitors in ways that can be almost impossible to copy and commoditize." I agree.
In Part I, Carbone makes a case for experience management and then, in Part II, explains HOW to do that effectively. In chapters 7-11, he rigorously examines five separate but interdependent disciplines, devoting a separate chapter to each. I especially appreciate his provision of basic questions. For example, here are three which must be answered by application of the Discipline of Assessing Experience:
1. What potential impact does managing customer experiences represent for the organization?
2. How is the experiential value currently being created for customers?
3. What resources are available to improve and optimize the way your organization creates experience value?
The other four Disciplines involve auditing, designing, implementing, and stewarding experiences. Again, Carbone includes for each a cluster of "basic" questions to be answered or areas on which to focus. I also appreciate Carbone's provision of all manner of check-lists, guidelines, and caveats as well as "Figures" which enable his reader to concentrate on both core principles of customer experience management and effective application of them. Throughout the book, he inserts italicized comments such as these:
"No one competence, discipline, or tool will be a universal silver bullet; rather it is the experience management counterpart to Disney's coveted `pixie dust.' It's the innovative blending of numerous perspectives and competencies that unlocks the full potential of experiential value creation." (Page 117)
"Designing experiences begins with the customer and ends with the customer. When clues are aligned with the customer's known desires and emotional needs, distinctive experiential value is being created. When they're not in harmony, conflicts occur and the value created is eroded." (page 190)
"The clues your customers place in the positive zone today may someday be neutralized, becoming basic expectations that no longer provide completive advantage but eventually become minimum thresholds to be met by anyone with ambitions of competing for long-term customer loyalty." (page 219)
I realize that these three brief excerpts are taken out of context. However, hopefully, they will help those who read this brief commentary to obtain at least a sense of what Carbone offers in this book. His customer experience management program is cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective. That said, I think it would be a fool's errand to try to implement all of it, either immediately or over an extended period of time. "Getting clued in [to what is of greatest importance to your customers] is the critical first step. From that start, you too will begin to harness the kind of relentless energy that is generated by sensing clues and recognizing their meaning and importance in the eyes [and hearts] of your customers."
In the Afterword, Carbone confides that he now spends much less time trying to convince people to accurately measure the experiential value they create for their customers and much more time explaining how to do it. How accurate and current are your organization's measurements? Unless they are both, your organization cannot possibly manage customer experience, much less increase its value.
Book Description
The forces that shape America's most powerful consumer agency
Because of the importance of what it regulates, the FDA comes under tremendous political, industry, and consumer pressure. But the pressure goes far beyond the ordinary lobbying of Washington trade groups. Its mandate-one quarter of the national economy-brings the FDA into the middle of some of the most important and contentious issues of modern society. From "designer" babies and abortion to the price of prescription drugs and the role of government itself, Inside the FDA takes readers on an intriguing journey into the world of today's most powerful consumer agency.
In a time when companies continue to accuse the FDA of nitpicking and needlessly delaying needed new drugs, and consumers are convinced that the agency bends to industry pressure by rushing unsafe drugs to market, Inside the FDA digs deep to reveal the truth. Through scores of interviews and real-world stories, Hawthorne also shows how and why the agency makes some of its most controversial decisions as well as how its recent reaction to certain issues-including the revolutionary cancer drug Erbitux, stem cell research, and bioengineering of food-may jeopardize its ability to keep up with future scientific developments.
Inside the FDA takes a closer look at the practices, people, and politics of this crucial watchdog in light of the competing pressures and trends of modern society, revealing what the FDA is supposed to do, what it actually does-and fails to do-who it influences, and how it could better fulfill its mandate. The decisions that the FDA makes are literally life and death. Inside the FDA provides a sophisticated account of how this vitally important agency struggles to balance bureaucracy and politics with its overriding mission to promote the country's health.
Fran Hawthorne (New York, NY) is a senior contributing editor of Institutional Investor and has connections deep within the business and finance communities. Hawthorne has been covering healthcare and business for more than twenty years for such publications as Fortune, BusinessWeek, and Crain's New York Business. She is the author of The Merck Druggernaut (cloth: 0-471-22878-8; paper: 0-471-67906-2).
Download Description
"The forces that shape America's most powerful consumer agency
Because of the importance of what it regulates, the FDA comes under tremendous political, industry, and consumer pressure. But the pressure goes far beyond the ordinary lobbying of Washington trade groups. Its mandate-one quarter of the national economy-brings the FDA into the middle of some of the most important and contentious issues of modern society. From ""designer"" babies and abortion to the price of prescription drugs and the role of government itself, Inside the FDA takes readers on an intriguing journey into the world of today's most powerful consumer agency.
In a time when companies continue to accuse the FDA of nitpicking and needlessly delaying needed new drugs, and consumers are convinced that the agency bends to industry pressure by rushing unsafe drugs to market, Inside the FDA digs deep to reveal the truth. Through scores of interviews and real-world stories, Hawthorne also shows how and why the agency makes some of its most controversial decisions as well as how its recent reaction to certain issues-including the revolutionary cancer drug Erbitux, stem cell research, and bioengineering of food-may jeopardize its ability to keep up with future scientific developments.
Inside the FDA takes a closer look at the practices, people, and politics of this crucial watchdog in light of the competing pressures and trends of modern society, revealing what the FDA is supposed to do, what it actually does-and fails to do-who it influences, and how it could better fulfill its mandate. The decisions that the FDA makes are literally life and death. Inside the FDA provides a sophisticated account of how this vitally important agency struggles to balance bureaucracy and politics with its overriding mission to promote the country's health.
Fran Hawthorne (New York, NY) is a senior contributing editor of Institutional Investor and has connections deep within the business and finance communities. Hawthorne has been covering healthcare and business for more than twenty years for such publications as Fortune, BusinessWeek, and Crain's New York Business. She is the author of The Merck Druggernaut (cloth: 0-471-22878-8; paper: 0-471-67906-2)."
Customer Reviews:
Highly Informative (and Neutral) Look at the FDA.......2007-08-08
Democrats want more Big Pharma regulation and consumer protection. Republicans want to protect Big Pharma's profits. The tobacco and diet supplement industries want to be left the hell alone. And consumers want miracle drugs for free. Somehow, some way, the FDA navigates the minefields of the food and drug industries every day and tries to base its decisions on science. While some authors take cracks at the FDA because of a political agenda, Fran Hawthorne remains neutral and thus provides the most level-headed look at the FDA that's on the shelves. While the reading is pretty dense, this is a book that every concerned citizen needs to read.
If you want to know about an administration that controls a third of our economy, this is the first step........2007-08-03
If you know nothing of the FDA, than this will blow your mind. By the time you are through half the book you will be considered an expert on the subject by all your friends.
Not one of the more exciting reads, but extremely informative. Not just about what you might think it is about, but much much more. This book will give a clearer view of where we all live.
Interesting look at an important regulatory body.......2006-12-20
For those who have ever wondered how the FDA makes decisions and how those decisions effect companies this is a great starting point. Hawthorne takes an objective stance towards the FDA and shows their faults along with the positives. She tracks several instances of FDA oversight and gives their results. I think the part that tracks the companies progress through the FDA's is the most instructive. One of my fields of study was health and pharmaceutical economics and this was a great way to start learning about the FDA.
Fascinating, Informative Look at Food & Drug Administration.......2005-05-28
"Inside the FDA" is a thoughtful, balanced, and well-researched look inside the controversial and troubled Food and Drug Administration. Author Fran Hawthorne is an experienced business journalist and her skills are evident here.
Digging into the FDA's complex and conflicting world, the book provides an informative picture of FDA's bureaucratic, political, and scientific drivers. Ms. Hawthorne does an excellent job of laying out what the FDA is suppose to do, what is really does, and where and why it fails.
It makes for a great read.
Amazing book, although it misses one key insight.......2005-05-07
Far better and more balanced than any book to date on the subject. The book does an amazing job explaining the external forces tugging in all directions at the FDA without those shrill calls for "reform" made by so-called public interests like CSPI or misguided lawmakers like Hinchey out of NY.
The only thing missing from the analysis are the internal forces. FDA attitudes are very much related to the belief system of the staff and the culture fostered by the institution.
If you've ever been on the receiving end of an FDA action, you know the prevailing culture inside the FDA views the entire industry as the police view criminals. The FDA often seems to doubt every iota of data, question every motive and act as if the administrative procedures which insure fairness are somehow boundaries on a power they believe should be limitless. Many parts of the FDA are an "end-justifies-the-means" culture. Staff who don't toe the line and approach industry with all out animosity and suspicion are often suspect themselves of being deficient in intellect and/or integrity.
The book does a bang up job analyzing external forces. If Ms. Hawthorne actually could have gotten inside the front lines at FDA, she would have had all the facts she needed for a superb analysis.
Book Description
An incisive exposŽ of the underhanded advertising initiatives that target teens-and an exploration of their disturbing consequences.
Generation Y has grown up in an age of the brand, bombarded by name products. In Branded, Alissa Quart illuminates the unsettling new reality of marketing to teenagers, as well as the quieter but no less worrisome forms of teen branding: the teen consultants who work for corporations in exchange for product; the girls obsessed with cosmetic surgery who will do anything to look like women on TV; and those teens simply obsessed with admission into a name-brand college. We also meet the pockets of kids attempting to turn the tables on the cocksure corporations that so cynically strive to manipulate them. Chilling, thought-provoking, even darkly amusing, Branded brings one of the most disturbing and least talked about results of contemporary business and culture to the fore-and ensures that we will never look at today's youth the same way again.
Customer Reviews:
Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers.......2006-07-22
The premise of this book seemed very appealing to me. I have always been very opinionated about "Branding" teenagers, and while in high school I refused to wear well known brand-name clothes.
However, once I got into actually reading the book, I was very dissapointed. Quart seemed, at least to me, to merely skim the surface of the problem, filling the pages with statistics and endless lists of numbers but not really pulling much meaning out of any of it.
It also seemed to me that she focused most of her attention on the "rich" kids. I feel that a comparison between priviledged and average teenagers, even severely underpriviledged teens, would have made the book much more interesting. It got especially frustration for me when I reached the chapter titled "Logo U" because (my being fresh out of highschool) I felt that she was exaggerating, or else obviously not expanding her interviews for children NOT from wealthy families. I never took an SAT course, never bought an expensive SAT book but still did perfectly well on my SATs, and got into several excellent colleges.
I understand that the point she was trying to make was about teens getting the "Logo U"s in their minds and refusing to be denied access to them, but I feel the endless droning about SATs offered nothing to feed that point and just made me try to compare the information to my own experience, with little, if any, success.
I apologize for my review being so unorganized. I am no professional writer myself.
Okay, but lacking..........2006-05-25
"Branded" definitely supplies a great deal of information, but Quart seems to fail in synthesizing this information for the reader. Granted, it is fairly easy to understand the points she is trying to make, but she fails to coherently state these points in a memorable fashion. The book is filled with endless examples and statistics, but it is lacking in overal argumentation. She seems to allow the facts and the stats to speak for themselves, without using them to prove specific points. The book is an endless supply of premises, with very few conclusions.
However, I did learn much from this book, and the chapter on teenage plastic surgery was quite shocking and disturbing to me.
Overall, I do recommend this book, if you are able to draw your own conclusions from the facts provided.
Brand This!.......2005-07-07
Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers by Alissa Quart is a quick and fascinating read on the current and constructed intersections between young people, the media and popular culture, corporate agencies, and consumer culture.
What struck me most about Quart's analysis is how RELEVANT it is. Unlike many books published today, the research, reference, and anecdotal material in Branded (published in 2003) is very recent and does not rely too much, or at all really, on the 1990s.
Two shortcomings of the book were the chapter on Self-Branding (I felt Quart could have done more with body piercing, for example) and the last few pages (her final analysis could have been stronger). Despite these weak spots, Quart clearly did her research.
Branded is an interesting and even fun read suitable for parents, teenagers, and educators alike. As a teacher myself, I will definitely refer to it in the future.
Good concept, but not totally engaging.......2005-01-18
Alissa Quart tackles an admirable and potentially fascinating subject in Branded, yet I was left feeling a bit disappointed after finishing the book. I personally found her writing style a bit stilted, and it seems like there is a lot of information and many observations, yet not so much in-depth analysis. The book itself is not extremely long, so there is definitely room for more expansion. There are countless examples of teen branding in movies, fashion, magazines, advertisements, etc., and the author touches on all of these and more, but somehow the book felt more like a bombardment of information than a nuanced analysis. I had pretty high expectations when I read this book (especially from the many positive editorial reviews available), but it was ultimately not as satisfying an experience as I would have hoped.
Fresh and Disturbing Take on a Rather Tired Argument.......2004-09-23
I found it to be an excellent read, and I'm considering using some excerpts from it to spark writing and discussion in a basic writing class that I teach--a class where I'm always concerned that the readings I use are immediate, accessable and read well.
Although the book's subject is the way that companies market to teenagers, in a sense this is only a subset of the author's larger concern with capitalism and consumer culture. She obviously has a left wing take on this subject, although I disagree with earlier reviewers that her presentation is manipulative or unfair. The issue isn't whether or not companies fill a demand (obviously, they do), but about the lengths to which they go to create that demand. How you feel about this obviously depends on your politics, but Quart's viewpoint seems to me to be reasonable and valid.
My problem is that this argument is just sort of tired. I'm just bored of hearing the same critique of "consumer culture" over and over again. What sets this book apart, though is its focus on marketing to children, and, in particular, the passages where Quart presents the kids' lives through their own words. It's pretty disturbing to hear how closely they identify their own self-worth with the products that they use. I'm not just talking about the idea that they have to conform to a certain image in order to be beautiful--again, this is old news. But about how the almost BECOME the brand that they use. When a teenager named Carrie, a fan of MTV's "Total Request Live" describes her loyalty to that show and to the marketing she does for The Backstreet Boys by saying, "I like the Boys as much as my friends and family"--well, there's something really disturbing about that.
Book Description
For additional materials, please contact the author directly: www.mariekedemooij.com
Cultural diversity influences marketing and advertising at all levels: consumer behaviour, research methodology, philosophies of how advertising works, advertising strategy, concept and execution. What the field has been lacking is a knowledge base of cultural differences and similarities, that can be used for developing global strategies. This book presents such a knowledge base, a structure to understand the consequences of culture for marketing and advertising.
Customer Reviews:
A unique perspective on consumer behaviour.......2001-05-30
The book is unique in that Marieke K Mooij uses theories from cultural anthroplogy and interpersonal communication to present a framework for consumer behaviour. It is particularly useful for practioners who are working in underresearched markets and are looking for ways to explain why consumers behave the way they do. The book makes extensive use of Hofstede's 5-D model to locate members of different cultures along the dimensions of culture and then uses this to explain differences in buying behaviour, communication styles and advertising appeals. The conclusion of the book is that individual behaviour is shaped more by the culture they belong to than it is by income or other differentiators. The one limitation of the book is that most of the examples are European, but I would recommend it even for those interested in Asian markets
no book is as useful for students and practitioners of adv........1999-02-15
This book review is on a 'titre personnel" basis.
I enjoyed the international advertising course which Marieke gave at Universidad de Navarra in 1997. As a teacher she is very capable of communicating the importance and urgency of this diverse and complex subject: managing marketing communications and brands within the outer/ and inner spheres of market cultures. Marieke applies the 5 dimensional model of G.Hofstede to illustrate and diferentiate a clear and full colour image of cultures and values. Being dutch myself, I recognise both the theory of Hofstede, but also the paradoxes Marieke has found. Intrigueing phenomena such as Japanese business success and collectivism, such as status and success in feminine cultures etc etc are often raising eyebrows, and not seldomly at highbrow corporate levels.
Cultural understanding, I have learnt, is possible only after understanding one's own culture, and a commitment to learn about the other culture, not matching it with your own. Marieke does this very well, she places anecdotes and case-studies is an objective setting, viewing it with an uncoloured microscope. She has added theory, academic research and good practice to make this book complete.
This book, for me, is one of the few great books on international (intercultural) marketing communications (and brand management).
For students and practitioners in cross-cultural communicati.......1998-09-01
From the author: With this book I have tried to develop a knowledge base of cultural differences and similarities that can be used for developing global marketing and advertising strategies and meaningful local adaptations. The structure for understanding the consequences of culture for marketing and advertising is based on Geert Hofstede's model for comparing national cultures. I have applied it to consumer values and motivations and found that it can explain culture's influence on marketing and advertising. To make the book useful for both students and practitioners, it includes a mix of basic theory and the practical applications with many examples.
Excerpts from a review by David A. Victor in The Journal of Business Communication of July 1998:
`Marieke de Mooij has added a worthwhile contribution to the on-going discourse in cross-cultural business communication in Global marketing and Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes. The title might dissuade those in fields outside marketing from reading further, which would be unfortunate. Any of us with an interest in cross-cultural business ought to find something worthwhile in de Mooij's book. De Mooij focuses on the various paradoxes of cross-cultural marketing. She amply illustrates how "certain opposing values of one culture also exist in other cultures, but in reverse" (p. 2). De Mooij calls these "Value paradoxes" and it is here that she makes her greatest contributions. [....] Throughout her discussion of Value Paradoxes, she breaks new ground. [.....] De Mooij has laid out an extremely well-balanced approach to understanding the competing needs of marketing globally while accommodating local advertising preferences.'
Book Description
This book is about strategic thinking in Hispanic marketing. The size and economic importance of the Hispanic market in the US are attracting enormous attention. The buying power of the US Hispanic market is now larger than the GDP of the entire country of Mexico, and it is the second largest Hispanic market in the world. Businesses and institutions have launched major initiatives to reach this important segment. Yet, the number of qualified individuals who understand the market is small; and many of those already catering to the market still struggle to learn about its intricacies.
This book is a cultural approach to Hispanic marketing. Each of the chapters describes and explains the cultural principles of Latino marketing. Recent case studies help marketers relate to the material pragmatically. The book integrates concepts and practical examples and provides critical guidance to discern between alternative courses of action.
This book is not about repeating well-known statistics, but about the Hispanic market as a cultural target. It takes a profound look at the values, beliefs, and emotions of US Hispanics, which impact consumer behaviour. Each of the chapters has been the subject of public presentations and lectures to marketing professionals. It is their positive reactions as well as the authors dedication to Hispanic consumers which motivated this book.
Chapter 1: The Role of Culture in Cross-Cultural Marketing
Chapter 2: Characteristics of the Hispanic Market
Chapter 3: What Makes Hispanics Hispanic
Chapter 4: The Role of Language in Hispanic Marketing
Chapter 5: The Processes of Enculturation, Acculturation, and Assimilation
Chapter 6 Cultural Dimensions and Archetypes
Chapter 7: Culturally Informed Strategy Based on Grounded Research
Chapter 8: US. Hispanic Media Environment and Strategy
Chapter 9: The Evolution of Hispanic Marketing
Chapter 10: The Future
* The first comprehensive guide to integrated marketing principles for the Hispanic market, the fastest-growing demographic in the United States
* Provides insight, conceptual tools and guidance to marketers on effective positioning of products in this market
* Creates a framework for to delineate the Hispanic market from larger ethnic and cross-cultural marketing approaches
Download Description
Over 40 million Hispanics live in the U.S., representing a $750 billion economy. Corporations must recognize and incorporate Hispanic cultural values into their products, services, and communications. But what's the best method? What works? What doesn't? And more fundamentally, how can those corporations connect with the Hispanic consumer? Hispanic Marketing shows marketers how to best reach this widely misunderstood demographic, not by repeating well-known statistics, but through viewing the Hispanic market as a cultural target.The Korzennys take a profound look at the values, beliefs, and emotions of US Hispanics that impact consumer behavior and provide practical guidance on how to connect successfully with this group. Recent case studies help marketers relate to the material pragmatically. The book integrates concepts and practical examples and provides critical guidance to discern between alternative courses of action. As Dr. Feli
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding book. .......2007-09-24
Many of the information out there on Hispanic marketing is repetitive and basic. This book digs deep into the cultural issues that frame the topics that concern marketers. It provides insight for the non_hispanic that will leverage their marketing skills with knowledge of a culture that otherwise seems like a big puzzle with too many parts.
Read this book before trying to penetrate the Hispanic market.......2007-02-23
Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective is a book that should be required reading for anyone trying to reach the lucrative Hispanic market. Before reading this book and "Marketing to Hispanics: A Strategic Approach to Assessing and Planning Your Initiative," I had with limited success targeted the Hispanic market for my company. I had even gone as far as learning Spanish to help me. But nothing has helped me understand and reach the Hispanic market more than these two books. Each book is packed with resources, tools, and information that will help any business executive or business owner reach the Latino market.
A true insight.......2007-01-21
This is truly a pioneer work in the field of Hispanic Marketing. The author really disects the theory and uses case studies to illustrate his points. Highly recommended in a field that is still in an infant stage and relies heavily on empiric information. His analysis goes beyond the 'business' aspect of Hispanic Marketing giving it a cultural perspective.
Book Description
"A fascinating insight into the lives of global teens, with clever tips and very clear steps to help any marketer find the way through to the hearts and minds of today's youth population." -Roy Edmondson, Presence and Publicity Director, Levi Strauss & Co.
"Elissa Moses's book does the best job I've ever seen of breaking down, bite by bite, a look at teen culture in a range of countries and across a range of industries. A bible for anyone doing business targeting global youth." -Marian Salzman, Worldwide Director, Brand Futures Group
"Insights from The $100 Billion Allowance have already helped Philips better connect to global youth." -Cor Boonstra, President, Royal Philips Electronics N.V.
"Anyone interested in globalization has to read The $100 Billion Allowance. Elissa Moses's new book stands alongside The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Tom Friedman as a twenty-first-century globalization guidebook." -Joseph T. Plummer, Executive Vice President, Director of Brand Strategy on Global Accounts, McCann Erickson Worldwide
"Elissa Moses is one of those rare shrinks who knows how to actively listen and exactly when to ask why . . . but she never stops there. Elissa offers the clear explanations for action that any consumer-oriented company always needs." -Gerard Dufour, Founding Partner, BLIS, former Senior Director of Marketing, Royal Philips Electronics N.V.
"Elissa Moses feels the pulse of the global teen market and finds it vibrating with energy and bursting with potential for the astute marketer." -Arthur Selkowitz, Chairman and CEO, D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles
"The $100 Billion Allowance is filled with some wonderful insights for all marketers . . . and parents." -Ron Berger, Chief Executive Officer, Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/EURO RSCG
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating and well written.......2001-04-09
Here's a book that should be on the desk of every person in marketing or advertising any place on the globe. Ms. Moses has penned a fascinating first-person account, describing the burgeoning teen market. The future for all multinationals will be trying to market into the Third World's teen market. Elissa Moses shows you how.
teenagers need to read this!.......2000-07-03
teenagers need to read this to find out just how stupid they are. we all go through this moronic period in life, when market forces prey on our immature and unsuspecting minds. it usually starts at 15, but for some it finishes at 30. we are preyed upon by a constant bombardment of commercials which subliminally discourage us from investing in our future. MTV warps our brains and we forgo our savings on overvalued and hyped up trinkets that help us conform to nonconformity. we end up with racks of CDs and a cuboard full of designer shoes, but no downpayment for our apartment when we realize that life is serious. there aught to be a law against this!
Book Description
A meticulously reported expose uncovers exactly how the drug industry boosts sales and bilks consumers in the most lucrative prescription drug market in the world.
As the pharmaceutical industry invests more and more in the development of new drugs, true breakthroughs are few and far between. Into the breach comes a panoply of product-line extensions and me-too drugs aimed at grabbing market share. The industry plows its high profits back into research, but invests an equal or greater sum in flogging its products in every imaginable venue. Research studies are designed to support marketing claims. Many doctors all over the country get their first information about new drugs from a salesperson. And, increasingly, prescription drugs are pitched to consumers on TV and the internet with images of hope, terror, or chic. Evidence-based practice guidelines, which endeavor to get the right medicines to those who will benefit most, can't be heard over the din.
Having created an unprecedented number of "megabrands"--blockbuster drugs with huge sales--and undergone an extraordinary wave of consolidation, some drug companies now find themselves in a precarious position. Patents are expiring on flagship products. In order to sustain the growth Wall Street has come to expect, these companies must produce billions of dollars worth of new revenue--fast. But can Americans continue to bankroll Operation Grow Big Pharma? Must we swallow the bad with the good?
Customer Reviews:
Good points with good examples.......2007-03-23
This short book is a compilation of complaints against the US pharmaceutical industry (Big Pharma) and how it rips of American consumers and taxpayers. The points presented are as follows.
1. Big Pharma uses advertising to get consumers to buy the latest and most expensive drugs when cheap, generic ones often do the same or better job.
2. Big Pharma uses lobbyists to get lawmakers to extend patent protection for drugs about to lose patent protection.
3. Big Pharma benefits from a lot of federal research dollars, and reaps huge financial rewards from patents on ensuing drugs.
4. Big Pharma actively lobbies doctors to get them to use their drugs.
5. Big Pharma has gradually taken control of the R&D part of the industry, to the point that research data is often edited or massaged to make the drugs look good and cover up negative data.
6. Big Pharma uses all sorts of kickbacks and marketing tools to force people to buy the most expensive drugs in each class.
7. Big Pharma creates medical conditions thru advertising, in effect creating customers for their creations.
Many of these complaints are raised in other texts, but none as short and polemic as this one. The big is a quick read, and uses a lot of real life examples. Unfortunately, the book is somewhat incomplete; it should have provided tables and charts with more statistical data. There should also have been a chapter describing the entire process by which a new drug is created, tested, marketed, and finally distributed to consumers. All in all, an OK book.
A lot needs fixing.......2006-04-18
In 30 yrs. of working as a retail pharmacist I have heard my fair share of "bitching" about drug prices as the Denver Two Step refers to. People don't take care of themselves and many have at themselves to blame, in part, for the high prices they pay for drugs. This hardly leaves the pharmaceutical manufacturers off the hook, though. While they do spend many millions developing a new drug that makes it to the marketplace, they spend three times that amount in promotions and advertising for each such drug. Even foreign manufacturers set up plants in the U.S. because this is where the money for pharmaceuticals is made. Why do American drug companies charge American pharmacies much more for drugs than they do foreign pharmacies? Why do Americans travel to Mexico and Canada for drugs? You really can't blame a company in America for making profits; that's what capitalism is about. But it seems that 30 years ago, ethics was almost as important as profit, even in the drug industry. Drug companies have in part taken advantage of the pendulum swing from the days when the doctor "knew all" and the patient nothing to the current direct to consumer drug advertising that seems to maximize drug benefit and minimize drug adverse reactions to a public that is too willing to take a pill rather than do the things Ms. Denver points out which requires effort and behavioral change. Change by both the consumer (lose weight, exercise, decrease drug demand etc) and the drug companies would seem desirable. Drug company influence in Washinton is disproportionate to the 8% of medical costs they account for and with the Leapfrog and other "influential" groups behind them, they peddle way too much influence with an extremely large number of influential lobbyists. American consumers are getting "ripped" but they are complicit in the process too often. Blame is easier than change.
American Road Kill.......2006-04-05
The U.S. ranks #1 in amount of healthcare spending per person yet 37th in healthcare performance (World Health Organization). We are second-to-last of industrialized countries listed in disabled persons earning capacity (annex to Society-at-a-Glance 2002) and 17th in life expectancy (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Editorialist Nicholas Kristoff cites the C.I.A. World Factbook ranking the U.S. 42nd in infant mortality, a "national disgrace....that the average baby is less likely to survive in the U.S. than in Bejing or Havana" (New York Times; 1/12/05). According to Dr. Kenneth Liegner's testimony before the New York State Assembly Committee on Health (11/27/01), a 7-year-old Lyme disease patient was kept alive on expensive medication until, due to insurance company policy, "she died within one month of cessation of intravenous antibiotic treatment." Liegner adds, "Metropolitan Life Insurance Company had an important formative role in the creation of the National Institutes of Health. This raises the issue of possible ongoing undue influence of the insurance industry in setting national public health priorities".
On the other hand, although the U.S. is the only industrialized country with no pharmaceutical price cap, "The National Institutes of Health said rules designed to reduce conflicts of interest at the agency went too far. So instead of barring thousands of employees from owning stock in pharmaceutical and bio-technology companies, only about 200 senior employees will be affected...." ('NIH Revises Ethics Rule on Stock Ownership'; USA Today; 8/26/05). So it's not only insurance companies influencing public health policy.
Consider these non-profit healthcare CEO salaries buried in the 'Money' section of USA Today: Catholic Healthcare West CEO--$1 mil. + $896,000 expenses/allowances; Memorial-Sloan Kettering CEO--$2.3 mil. "with 2 surgeons making $1.6 mil. each"; Kaiser Permanente's Foundation Hospital outgoing President--$7.4 mil.; and Universal Health Services CEO--$16.2 million dollars in 2003 ('Non-profit Hospitals Top Salaries May Be Due For a Checkup'; USA Today; 9/30/2004).
Non-profit funds are procured under the guise of altruism but become organizational charity theft when used for extravagant salaries. The rationalization is that such salaries are necessary to attract leading professionals within a competitive system, and are a drop in the bucket compared to overall healthcare costs. But isn't that a most terrible commentary on America to say the economy demands we act as pigs with the charity money? Tragically, "Right-to-Life" proponents oppose universal healthcare, practicing socio-economic Darwinism in creating more American road kill.
The Big Fix:.......2006-03-09
This book made it much clearer to me how the pharmaceutical companies operate. Everyone should read this who takes prescription medications. A must read for all!!
SCREW YOU, JERRY FALWELL!.......2004-09-14
This is my personal response to anyone else throwing darts at this book by Katherine Greider. Let it be from now on that you eiether agree with Mrs. Greider on this issue, or you side with the Big Pharma terrorists.
As her father, the great muckraker William Greider demystified the U.S. Federal Reserve, K. Greider demystifies the big drug companies with their claims that they must have their way with public policy.
It would seem that a President who purports to be "pro-life" would waste no time pushing some PRICE CONTROLS so people could afford the prescription drugs they need.
Amazon.com
No interest for one year! No annual fee! No minimum payments for six months! And, if you want to believe Robert Manning, there's no way out of the debt that we find ourselves in, as individuals and as a country. Credit Card Nation combines debt of every kind--consumer, corporate, and governmental--and creates a vast landscape of profit-spewing lenders and struggling debtors present at every level of economics. Appalling statistics set readers off on a depressing journey: the years between 1980 and 1994 saw annual consumer charges skyrocket from $170 billion to $581 billion, with the average household carrying over $4,000 in revolving debt. Accompanied by the erasure of nearly $100 billion in corporate debt and tremendous tax cuts for ever-merging conglomerates, the end of the 20th century seems to be just the beginning of an overwhelming cycle. While Manning's book is extensively researched, it is also extremely readable. Individual stories of junk bondsmen, corporate raiders, and middle-class consumers are threaded throughout the pages of charts and statistics, with a few surprises. While most media would have us believe that students who rack up charge accounts are totally irresponsible, the reality is that some of these students are helping their families with cash-advance loans to make mortgage or insurance payments. Emphasis is also placed on the tremendous advertising budgets of credit card companies: Manning comments on "how quickly the cultural norms have changed in the Credit Card Nation," we see a poster insisting "money can't buy you love, but a credit card can get you started." This is not a self-help book, and Manning has no 12-step program for debtors at any level. Credit Card Nation simply tells it as it is. --Jill Lightner
Book Description
A stunning examination of how the credit card industry has changed the way Americans buy, loan, and live
Credit Card Nation is part history and part expos of the damaging social and political consequences of America's increasing reliance on credit cards. Using original research and consumer interviews, Manning analyzes the growth of the credit card industry and its related businesses by looking at the story of its consumers-the people who use credit for convenience and those who rely on it for financial stability.
In addition to providing a consumer history of credit card usage, Robert Manning analyzes the larger societal attitudes toward debt. The history of the credit card industry's expansion is one of the creation of a new class of consumers who utilize credit-and its steep interest and penalty rates-for economic survival. Manning discusses the societal toll that the "credit card nation" is placing on the young, the elderly, and all those in search of the "good life" marketed by the credit card and banking industries.
Customer Reviews:
Robert D. Manning is one of the most influential "public" scholars in the US.......2007-09-07
Robert D. Manning is a rare combination of influential scholar and public policy "statesmen" whose work has not only inspired hundreds of scholars projects and thousands of media stories but also directly influence public understanding and regulation of financial institutions, the deregulated banking system, subprime lending, and the global dimensions of asset-backed securities.
Author of the widely acclaimed book, CREDIT CARD NATION, and editorial advisor of the powerful documentary, IN DEBT WE TRUST, which is based on his book, Dr. Manning's scholarly and public policy work constitutes a pathbreaking intellectual enterprise: a dispassionate and ongoing investigation of the nature of America's changing attitudes and behaviors toward consumer credit, the power of financial institutions, and role of the banking system in changing American society. Manning's analysis of America's growing dependence on consumer credit, the powerful financial institutions that have emerged under the deregulation era and shaped the fragile underpinnings of the "American Dream," are presented in the context of broad social, economic, and cultural perspectives as US society grapples with its declining position in the global economy.
Dr. Manning has produced a truly creative approach to analyzing the post-industrial society where there is more profit to be made financing consumption than producing the items themselves. This is an unusual book in its effective weaving of macro-social and economic trends with carefully selected case-studies of companies and housholds. There is no attempt to present glossy oversimplifications, black-and-white statements, or sweeping generalizations. Rather, the book seeks to demonstrate how globalization and US industrial restructuring have dramatically changed the opportunities for the American middle-class based on their earned income (remember the primacy of the one-income earning family in the 1960s!) AND the pressures of the federal government to aid the suffering banking industry through favorable deregulatory policies which indirectly contributed to the soaring federal deficit. Manning emphasizes that there is no single institution or social trend that is responsible for this phenomenon as he artfully explains how all sectors of American society have become integrally dependent on borrowing--the "Triangle of Debt."
This book is an impressive intellectual achievement: in a dispassionate manner it marshals overwhelming evidence and complex conceptual models that reveal the predatory policy banking institutions and marketing tools that have addicted most people to easy credit in America--both young and old. Furthermore, this book was the precursor to foresightful academic predictions of the subprime mortgage crisis and I understand that his next book systematically examines the consequences of the Credit Card Nation as the country's Baby Boomers enter into an underfunded quagmire of retirement. Aside from the momentous intellectual contributions of the book, Dr Manning is one of the rare breed of scholars that practices what he preaches in the classroom through Congressional testimony, trenchant policy analyses, frequent media commentary, and his own carefully designed alternative to consumer bankruptcy.
One nation, under debt, with liberty and justice for some.......2007-09-06
We're in the middle of an ongoing social and economic crisis according to Robert D. Manning, author of "Credit Card Nation". And with supporting evidence like his figures of every credit cardholder having 10 cards in their name and every family revolving over $4,000 in debt (the number now is over $7,000), it's easy to see why he feels like it is a crisis. In this fascinating book, Manning describes the situation thoroughly, shows who's at fault, and what we should expect as a result of the situation.
Manning separates the country into two categories of credit card users, the convenience sector, who pay their debt off monthly, and the revolver sector, who have accumulated all the personal debt this country maintains. He focuses on the revolvers and the dire straits they're in due to the interest they pay on their debt. The author does mention some bright spots in the history of debt (e.g. 'The Blair Witch Project', which was financed on credit cards and ended up making millions), but the overall picture portrayed is bleak and Manning doesn't describe how everyday people can take advantage of the credit card economy.
One major liability in this book (no pun intended) is that Manning repeatedly blames the credit card industry for putting so much effort into their marketing. It's true that the industry uses some sneaky techniques to get people to become lifelong subscription holders to their finance charges, but some of the industry's marketing can be used for consumer benefit.
Manning has a great angle on the social aspects of our spending society (from a Puritan savings mentality to a commercial spending mentality) and how it affects the separate classes (the system negatively affects the people who need it most while helping the people who need it least). His philosophy on the drawbacks of a culture that punishes production but rewards consumption should also be transferred to taxes as well as credit.
All in all, this is a thoroughly insightful book, which everyone should read.
JSBM
Author, How to Take Advantage of the People Who Are Trying to Take Advantage of You: 50 Ways to Capitalize on the System
Valuable information but the writing style is odd .......2007-05-28
I have no arguments with Prof. Manning's points, although I suppose I too was less than moved by the stories of college students who had to declare bankruptcy to pay for their bar tabs and expensive trips. I just didn't care about those predicaments all that much. But what I found less than valuable about this book was the writing style - as the professional reviewer said, it was not only filled with jargon, but in my opinion seems to have been written a few sentences at a time, with long gaps in between the writing sessions. The author continually repeats facts after several paragraphs, and treats the information as if we're hearing it for the first time. He even did this, oddly enough, in the same *paragraph* once - I did read the entire book because I liked the fifty or so pages of original material among the 250 other pages that repeated it. I also think he enjoyed using "big words" and convoluted sentences even when they hid the clarity of what he was trying to say - or, as he would put it, even when the obfuscation became peremptorily more insistent.
Scary stuff.......2006-11-06
A great overview of the precarious state of credit we've reached and how we got here. Good lessons for all: policy-makers, borrowers, lenders, college students.
A Morality Play?.......2005-09-15
Overall I felt that this book could have been, and should have been, much better. The ever-increasing level of credit-card debt is a real problem, as are the abuses of sub-prime lenders. But, the author's perception and description of the problem is often off, and the proposed solutions are inadequate.
The author offers a morality play in which the Merchants of Greed victimize both the poor and the middle class, while convincing users of convenience to think of themselves as more virtuous than the debt-ridden (even though their perks come at the expense of the less fortunate).
No doubt our ancestors would be horrified to watch us incur debt to buy a pair of shoes, fill the gas tank, or buy a restaurant meal. But, their horror would come from not from morality but from fear: in their time, mortgaging the farm often led to its loss, and mortgaging one's future income might lead to the poorhouse
Today there is a balance (which the author does not acknowledge) between easy credit (which leads some users to "max out") and restricted credit (which prevents most low-income people from obtaining a credit card). Speaking as one who lived for years on a near minimum-wage salary, I'd have to say that it was to my benefit to obtain a card, because (1) although I could not afford to own a car, I could occasionally afford to rent one; and (2) the Internet functions somewhat as Sears did 100 years ago in that if the local merchants charge too much, one has a ready alternative.
In this author's morality play credit merchants appear as the devil- and the devil's voice is advertising. Thus, welfare moms obtain bedroom sets they can't afford from Rent-A-Center because "it's hard not to succumb to the industry's aggressive marketing campaigns."
But, we're talking about adults, and there are alternatives. I did not buy entertainment products I could not afford and, when I could afford them but local merchants charged too much, I ordered through the mail (or,for more portable items, took a bus to a discount store). For furniture, I bought from a Salvation Army thrift store and hired a truck to take it home.
The point is not that I was more virtuous than a RAC customer, but (1) some people's lives are just too chaotic to plan more than a week or two ahead, and for these everything must be bought on credit because saving is impossible; and, (2) "have it now" and "it must be new" are very important values to RAC's customers. Government regulation cannot address either.
Regulation (the author's prime solution) can curb some of the worst abuses. For example, gaming commissions can forbid casino operators from locating ATMs inside the casino; payday lenders can be forbidden to roll over loans more than three times; credit card lenders can be required to set higher minimum payments (to shorten payback time).
Nonetheless, market forces and the creativity of lenders and merchants will defeat most well-meaning regulation. For example, Native American casinos can evade most state regulation, and the high price of credit is easily hidden in the price (or rent) of consumer goods. Indeed, rent-to-own was largely invented to evade state usury laws. Short of a government bureaucracy to establish maximum prices (and rents?) for everything what, exactly, would he do about this?
The author describes real problems. But, his insistence on seeing "Credit Card America" primarily as a morality play limits both his vision, and his range of possible solutions and remediations.
Book Description
"How much does it cost?" We think of this question as one that preoccupies the nation's shoppers, not its statesmen. But, as Pocketbook Politics dramatically shows, the twentieth-century American polity in fact developed in response to that very consumer concern.
In this groundbreaking study, Meg Jacobs demonstrates how pocketbook politics provided the engine for American political conflict throughout the twentieth century. From Woodrow Wilson to Franklin Roosevelt to Richard Nixon, national politics turned on public anger over the high cost of living.
Beginning with the explosion of prices at the turn of the century, every strike, demonstration, and boycott was, in effect, a protest against rising prices and inadequate income. On one side, a reform coalition of ordinary Americans, mass retailers, and national politicians fought for laws and policies that promoted militant unionism, government price controls, and a Keynesian program of full employment. On the other, small businessmen fiercely resisted this low-price, high-wage agenda that threatened to bankrupt them.
This book recaptures this dramatic struggle, beginning with the immigrant Jewish, Irish, and Italian women who flocked to Edward Filene's famous Boston bargain basement that opened in 1909 and ending with the Great Inflation of the 1970s.
Pocketbook Politics offers a new interpretation of state power by integrating popular politics and elite policymaking. Unlike most social historians who focus exclusively on consumers at the grass-roots, Jacobs breaks new methodological ground by insisting on the centrality of national politics and the state in the nearly century-long fight to fulfill the American Dream of abundance.
Average customer rating:
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The Image Factory: Consumer Culture, Photography and the Visual Content Industry (New Technologies/New Cultures)
Paul Frosh
Manufacturer: Berg Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1859736424 |
Book Description
Quietly but implacably, powerful transnational corporations are gaining power over our visual world. A 'global, visual content industry' increasingly controls images supplied to advertisers, marketers and designers, yet so far the process has, paradoxically, evaded the public eye. This book is the first to expose the interior workings of the visual content industry, which produces approximately 70% of the images that define consumer cultures. The corporate acquisition of major photographic and film archives, as well as the digital rights to much of the world's fine art, is having a profound effect on what we see. From stock photography to new technologies, this book powerfully engages with the historical and cultural issues relating to visual culture and new media. How has stock photography, the system of 'renting out' ready-made images, transformed the role of marketing and advertising? What impact are digital technologies having on the practices of industry professionals? How have software programs such as Photoshop enabled professionals to play 'God' with photographs and how does this influence our belief in the integrity of images?Combining original research on stock photography with a new theoretical take on the circulation of images in contemporary culture, The Image Factory provides a comprehensive and in-depth exploration of industrialized commercial photography, its uses and abuses.
Books:
- Cold Calling Techniques: (That Really Work!) (Cold Calling Techniques)
- Command Performance: The Art of Delivering Quality Service (The Harvard Business Review Book)
- Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole
- Credit After Bankruptcy: A Step-By-Step Action Plan to Quick and Lasting Recovery after Personal Bankruptcy
- Dale Carnegie's Lifetime Plan for Success: The Great Bestselling Works Complete In One Volume
- Dare to Dream and Work to Win (Audio CD Book)
- Designing a Digital Portfolio (VOICES)
- Designing Brand Identity: A Complete Guide to Creating, Building, and Maintaining Strong Brands
- Don't Let Your HMO Kill You : How to Wake Up Your Doctor, Take Control of Your Health, and Make Managed Care Work for You
- E-Commerce
Books Index
Books Home
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